It is well known that the method for encoding and inputting Chinese characters is one of the keys to information automation technique for Chinese characters. However, a difficult problem demanding prompt solution in the world at present is how to turn the troublesome Chinese characters, which have a long history of over five thousand years and which are being commonly used by hundreds of millions of people, into the Latin alphabet or Arabic numeric codes which prevail in the world to carry out international information exchange by means of electronic, wired, or wireless radio techniques.
For this reason, many experts and scholars have been engaged in research and exploration work in this field. It is reported that the methods for encoding Chinese characters at present amount to over 400. Although several hundred schemes of inputting Chinese characters have been put forward, only a few are really put into actual use. Few of them, if any, can be easily used or mastered. The cause for this is, in the final analysis, the many man-made rules which are different from the rules of the stroke order for Chinese characters and the rules for character formation generally acknowledged and accustomed to by people. This results in more content to be committed to memory by people; in addition, operators find it inconvenient and difficult to grasp the rules because of the high code repetition rate, error rate, low operating speed and low efficiency.
For instance, the advantage of "Knowing Code Upon Seeing Chinese Characters" invented by Dr. Zhi Bing Yi is that it is easier for an operator to operate on machines as long as the operator can basically master the knowledge of phonetic transcription of Chinese characters and can break down Chinese characters into character components (basic structural parts of Chinese characters) according to the order of strokes and that it can be used on machines with a small keyboard at low repetition rate. Its disadvantage lies in that operators need to learn, by memory, many related words and need to master correctly the initial consonants and vowels of Chinese characters. To achieve this, operators must be specially trained for one or two months, furthermore, mistakes are frequently made.
The advantage of "3-Corner Encoding Method" assigned to Wang An Co. Ltd. (USA), is that if an operator can learn by memory "99 Table", the operator can type with one hand and the method can be used on machines with a small keyboard having only digital keys, and its code being less repetitious. Its drawbacks lie in that, it is difficult for operators to learn by memory "99 Table" and in fact, the Table must be placed by the side of the machine, thus, slowing the speed of striking keys. Secondly, the increase and decrease of radicals are not rational, for instance, radical "[1]" (see appendix table III for character represented by [1]) is separated from radical "[2]" with neither conforming to convention nor being necessary. Another example is radical "[3]". Adding radical "[3]" is unnecessary because its ability of forming words is very uncommon. Still another example, in this method, radical "[4]" is similar to the original form of radicals "5]" and "[6]" which does not conform to the fact that Chinese characters are mostly pictographic or onomatopoeic. Furthermore, a Chinese character is by nature a character with four corners, thus, sacrificing one corner to reduce the number of key striking entails a set of man-made rules, which cause errors in operation.
As to "The Tian Long (Draconic) Cang Jie Word-Building Method" by Mr. Zhu Bang Fu, its advantage is a low code repetition rate and being able to be operated on a small keyboard. Its drawback is a man-made set of formulas, classifications, and auxiliary word shapes, which are over elaborate and difficult to be committed to memory. Thus, the rules are liable to be forgotten.
As to input codes "Five Strokes of Chinese Characters", "Five-Stroke Bridge", "Five Stroke Word Shape" invented by Wang Yong Ming, their advantages are that they can be operated on small keyboards with a low code repetition rate, and that it is unnecessary for operators to know the pronunciations of Chinese characters. The disadvantages are that operators must learn by memory 25 formulas, otherwise, keys can't be correctly striken. Moreover, because English letters and Chinese characters phonetic transcription are not handled in a unified way, it is impossible to make use of the sound of Chinese characters which is one of the three essential factors of Chinese characters (shape, sound, and meaning). Thus, the information which Wang's codes make use of is not holo-information.
The advantage of "Qian Code", developed by Dr. Qian Wei Chang, is that the structures of Chinese characters are reduced macroscopically and an analogy is drawn with the forms or shapes of English letters. For example, "[7],[8],[9],[10],[11], and [12]" are reduced and made analogous with English letter "L". "[13],[14],[15],[16],[17],[18],[19], and [20]" are reduced and made analogous with English letter "I". But the forms and structures of Chinese characters are quite different from the curves, lines, arcs and corners of Latinized letters, thus users may be unaccustomed to drawing analogies, thereby making wrong choices.
As for "[21]" (QI) Encoding Method developed by Li Guai Sheng of Guangxi Institute for Nationalities, its advantages are simplicity and easy to learn. Its disadvantages are: (1) radicals and strokes are separately classified, therein radicals are too simple and classified into only 15 phonetic letters, the number of strokes are only one stroke more then 5 and are classified into numerals, and the classifications show lack of consistency; (2) left turning strokes and right turning strokes are often difficult to distinguish, for example, the left and right turnings of character "[22]" are undistinguishable, thus it is very easy to cause erroneous encodings; (3) all letter keys and 0-9 numeral keys are not made use of, dispersity is rather low, hence code repetition rate is high; (4) mingled use of Latin letters and numerals in encoding makes codes unequal in length, resulting in lack of harmony and neatness of codes, difficulty in dividing characters; and (5) it is only suitable to input individual character, unable to operate with rapid input of terms.
In addition, a GOO coding system has been found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,615. The Goo Coding Method includes two steps: 1) Locate the radical part of the Chinese character, i.e., one of the 97 predetermined elements, as included in Table III, if any; and 2) Mentally remove the radical part, if any, of the character and form the five-digit code on the remaining part of the character, or on the entire character if there is no predetermined element present, by the four Corner coding Method.
As seen from the above, the GOO Code is a combination of the numerical code of the radical plus four Corner Code. First, the GOO Code is an improved Four Corner Code. Only the GOO Code overcomes the drawbacks of Four Corner Code, i.e., many ambiguities exist in this coding scheme. Before the Chinese characters are encoded using the Four Corner Coding Method, the radical parts are located according to the predetermined element of Table III. If no such predetermined element is present, the eighth digit of code is determined by counting the total number of strokes in the balance of the character after the mental removal of the predetermined element, or in the entire character. It is apparent that the G00 code is not fully based on the radical and the strokes of Chinese characters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,955 to Chiu discloses a method for encoding ideographic characters in which a set of predetermined basic stroke components, a selected frequently used radical, and selected frequently used ideographic character are arranged on 26 letter keys and 10 numerical keys. Its arrangement is irregular. Therefore, many man-made rules are requested to be memorized in the Chiu code.
In contrast, the present invention can be universally used when people have mastered the first phonetic letter of 100 common radicals and the rules for the stroke order of Chinese characters. So the present invention's unique creativeness lies in simplicity and ease of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,492 to Wang discloses a method of inputting Chinese characters based on the "stroke order" wherein 244 radicals are allocated to the 41 keys of a standard keyboard. This arrangement is made according to the frequency of usage of each of the radicals. In contrast, an arrangement is made by the present invention in accordance with the first phonetic letter of each of the radicals. Wang's method is based on the "stroke order" more particularly, a radical is selected covering as many strokes as possible. While the present invention is characterized in that the Chinese character is keyed in with four codes, i.e., a first code, the first phonetic letter of Chinese phonetic transcription of the radical being keyed in; a second code, the first phonetic letter of Chinese phonetic transcription of the continuing stroke of the radical being keyed in; and a last code, the first phonetic letter of Chinese phonetic transcription of the last stroke of the radical being keyed in.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,753 to Chou discloses an input system for Chinese characters wherein the Chinese characters are divided into six basic strokes and are designated as numerical symbols according to the basic stroke and the sequence of the stroke. The Chou invention is a code of six strokes. In the Chou method, the Chinese characters are broken up into six basic strokes in accordance with the exact stroke writing sequence of any characters, then each character is given a spelling number to represent the character.